In 1906 the Daily Mail offered a prize of
£10,000 to whoever made the first flight from London to Manchester, a
distance of 186 miles across country, in less than 24 hours. Claude
Grahame-White, a young enthusiast with little flying experience, took up the
challenge in April 1910. He planned to follow the railway line and
persuaded the London and North Western Railway company to whitewash the
sleepers for 100 yards north of every junction, so that he stayed on the
right course. On Saturday, 23 April 1910 the weather seemed favourable
and he set off just after 5.00am. Two hours later he landed for his
first scheduled stop at Hillmorton, near Rugby, having covered 75 miles and
set a new British cross-country record.He set off
again after an hour's rest, but the wind was picking up and Grahame-White
decided on an unscheduled stop at Hademore, as the engine was also in need
of attention. Whilst waiting for the wind to drop, a crowd gathered as
word spread that the plane was on the ground and the enterprising owner of
the field began to charge 2d for admission. A story about this has
been passed down the generations of one Whittington family. Seven year
old Joseph Charles Phillips got to see the plane without being charged, as
he went into the field on the shoulders of his older cousin, Percy
Wakefield, and they claimed they only counted as one.
At 7pm the decision was
taken to give up until 3am the following morning, leaving 2 hrs and 15 mins
to reach Manchester within the 24 hour limit. However, conditions were
no better by 3am and the attempt had to be abandoned. Grahame-White
decided to proceed to Manchester and try to fly from there to London.
Further bad luck then struck Grahame-White. An arrangement for soldiers
from Whittington Barracks to tie the plane down with stakes and ropes
overnight was not carried out and during the night of Sunday 24 April it was
blown over onto its back by a gale. The top wing was torn in several places
and numerous struts were broken.
Grahame-White is seen here with
leather flying cap and white scarf accompanying his damaged plane to
Lichfield Railway station for transporting back to London for major repairs.
The publicity attracted the attention
of a second, more-experienced aviator, Frenchman Louis Paulhan, who joined
the race to win the prize. Competition was fierce. Seizing an
opportunity Paulhan left London at 5.30pm on Wednesday 27th April.
When Graham-White heard this, he rushed to catch up and left one hour later.
When night fell, Paulhan was still ahead, having landed near Lichfield where
he re-fueled and spent the night. Grahame-White was 57 miles behind at
Roade in Northamptonshire and decided upon the daring tactic of flying in
the dark - the first night flight in England. He resolved to leave at
2.00am, when the moon rose, but it was concealed by clouds. Finally at
2.45am there was a break in the clouds and with the help of lamps in the
field and car headlights to show the right direction, Grahame-White managed
to take off.
Grahame-White strugggled with engine problems as he entered the Trent
Valley, where strong head winds added to the difficulties. He was
forced to land at Polesworth just after Paulhan took off from Lichfield at
4.09am witnessed by a crowd of 3,000 despite the early hour. Paulhan
arrived in Manchester at 5.32am to claim the Daily Mail prize, having
succeeded in flying from London to Manchester in just over 12 hours; 4 hours
12 minutes actually flying.
Meanwhile Grahame-White continued to try to complete the course, but
admitted defeat when, after leaving Polesworth, it took him half an hour to
cover 8 miles. He landed at Whittington near to where he had landed on
23rd April.
